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Moreover, according to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 63% of those with only associate’s degrees in STEM earn more than those with bachelor’s degrees in non-STEM occupations. In addition, 47% of those with bachelor’s degrees in STEM occupations earn more than Ph.D.s in non-STEM occupations. Also, there is a much smaller salary gap between men and women in STEM fields than in other occupations. Nevertheless, 3.2 million STEM jobs go unfilled because there are not the qualified applicants to fill them.

With these facts as a backdrop, you would think that every kid in America would be scrambling to take a STEM major. Wrong. One study showed that nearly half of high school students surveyed say they will most likely not pursue a STEM-related degree. Whom then can we get to qualify for these high-paying, readily available, yet evidently not very popular jobs?

Answer: Hispanics. Over the last several decades, it has primarily been Hispanic immigrants, legal and illegal, who’ve done America’s dirty work. Janitors, construction labor, factory workers, meatpacking, housecleaning, cooks, chefs, you name it, Hispanics have done these jobs with drive and aplomb, and nary a complaint. No matter where you stand on illegal immigration, there’s no denying that Hispanic immigrants have taken jobs most Americans eschewed.

As Americans seem to be eschewing key white-collar STEM jobs too, now comes the next and most important chapter of the Hispanic immigration experience in America: how to move en masse from low-paying but steady work as America’s default blue collar labor force to the leaders of the STEM education revolution that must happen if this nation is to maintain its top-tier economic status.

Now consider these numbers. Non-Hispanic growth rate in the past decade? 5%. Hispanic growth rate? 43%. Average Hispanic age in 2009? 27.4 years. Nearly 10 years younger than the population overall. One in three Hispanics in the U.S. are under 18, most of them U.S.-born and learning English in public schools. The stats go on, and all point to one question: how do we bridge the gap between this country’s young, fast-multiplying, yet woefully undereducated Hispanic cohort and this nation’s ever-expanding demand for STEM-educated labor?

Enter SHPE, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. SPHE was founded in 1974 in Los Angeles, California by a group of engineers employed by the city of L.A.. Their objective was to form a national organization of professional engineers to serve as role models in the Hispanic community. Networking was the key basis for the organization. SHPE quickly established two student chapters to begin the network that would grow to encompass the nation as well as reach countries outside the U.S.

Recently, SHPE has taken the STEM crisis as their exclusive mandate. With mentoring programs, scholarships, and science-related events for students and their parents, SHPE is working with corporations and educational partners to expand their network and motivate kids to major in STEM fields. One such way is through an ad campaign created by For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or FIRST, using celebrities to show Hispanic students that science is hip, or, in the words of U2′s Bono, “Science is rock and roll.”

With these facts in mind, getting Latino kids excited about science and math seems daunting. But SHPE keeps plugging away. For example, at SHPE’s next national conference, November 14-18th, 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas — the largest technical and career conference for Hispanics in the country — over 200 corporations will be present to recruit Hispanic students and professionals for work in STEM fields. In addition, university advisors from across the nation have joined to develop a stronger network in which schools and SHPE chapters can be more effective in recruitment and retention of Hispanics obtaining STEM degrees. SHPE will also continue to stage regional leadership development conferences on a yearly basis for the SHPE student chapter leaders to improve their organizational, managerial, and technical skills.

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Girls are even more underrepresented in STEM fields. The Robot video highlighted is a great way to bring awareness to science, but it looks like we still have a lot of work to do to shatter the stereotype that science is only for boys. http://www.girlstart.org/news-and-events/item/robots

I was lucky enough to go to a school that really pushed for women in STEMs. My Mechanical engineering class was 1/3 female. It felt so good having so many women in class compared to the city college I went to where I was the only women in my physics classes. But even then, there were five male latinos that were in my graduating class and one latina (just me).

Now I make up 0.31% of the graduate population because I am a hispanic, in STEMS and a women.

I am I member of SHPE and current undergrad. Without the support that the organization has given me, chances are I would have dropped out or changed my major by now, instead I am a national SHPE award winner who has benefited from the the organization and I plan on giving even more back to my community.

Thank you for this article. I feel like this has given credit to something that is truly a cause worth noting. Are are all one in the same… It is time we as a country start realizing we are all working toward the same goal.

Excellent. And thank you! If you want to pen a piece about your experiences, let me know. I want to put together a collection of stories by Hispanic students who’ve overcome enormous odds to graduate high school and attend college.

James: I just interviewed a young Latina who will graduate in June from a Cal State campus in southern California. You want a story of adversity and resilience, including loss of father senior year in college? Let me know. She’s amazing.

James, thank you for this perfectly timed article. To answer the question in your title, the answer is absolutely YES! Many of us are out here doing the work to make it happen in the Latino community, to show the success stories of those who took the bet on higher ed and STEM and won. You might enjoy this article I published last week titled “Latino Engineers Selected Among Global Elite” at http://t.co/tBqyMrPG. My work is all about writing those success stories and showcasing them widely to mainstream America and to Latino youth. Thank you for spotlighting SHPE who’s getting it done!

Graciela Tiscareño-Sato *Speaker on innovation and entrepreneurship in green economy *Author of Latinnovating: Green American Jobs and the Latinos Creating Them –the first book showcasing Latino-led innovation and entrepreneurship in the green economy (ISBN: 978-0-9834760-0-9) Now available in print and Kindle versions via Amazon.com For author-signed copies, purchase through www.latinnovating.com Tel: (510) 542-9449